More Brayer Play

I've been printing leaves using the brayer. This time with white acrylic paint on black fabric. The prints came out great. Hopefully after the New Year, I'll get sewing and quilting up this.

Scrappy Journal Pages

The pages are in the cover. I had a great time creating the pages: sewing on collage pieces. The 2 signatures were machine sewn together then hand stitched to the cover. I'm tickled with the result. Now, all that's left is to insert photos and journal. And that's a big order. I have to decide what the journal's going to be about. I'm thinking about journaling my "artist's" routine. We'll see after the new year.

New Journal Online class

I'm in the mist of another wonderful online class led by Mary Ann Moss at Dispatch from LA. It's called Remains of the Day. This is my first attempt at shabby chic. My traditional quilt background reared it's head but I willing to work on the more spontaneous style of shabby... Uses up scraps of which I have tons. The cover was made slipcover like with a file folder inside.

This is the outside of the journal. This is the journal all wrapped up.

This last one is the inside cover.Today I will get to make the inside pages. There is to be two signatures of 10 folded pages. Can't wait to let loose and create.

Merry Christmas

Merry, merry Christmas!

Some monotyping Experiments

I had a wonderful time with Gelatin plate printing the other day. these are my favorites. The last one is ready to quilt. I made up a plate of Knox plain gelatin. 2T per cup of water. The plate was too thin and started to break up so next time I'll made a thicker plate. I love the gel for the feel and I think it helps came the paint moist longer. I ended the session just using a plexiglass for my plate. I like the gel plate better.

Making new stamps

I made some stamps quickly using the instructions in this years Quilting Arts Gifts Magazine. I almost followed the instructions. The magazine said to cut the thin foam into simple shapes and glue to a cardboard. I used the fun foam that had adhesive on the back and stuck the shaped to a thicker fun foam rectangular shape. What fun! The fun foam holds paint real well and I could stamp til there was no paint for s long while. I plan to make up some more. I stamped onto sketch book paper that I had first cleaned off a brayer I was finished with. Conservation!

Merry Christmas

This lap top size quilt stated years ago as a round robin. I appliqued the center - on point. Then the piece traveled around to different quilters. Each had special instructions as to how to do a border. I've had this sitting around and finally decided to quilt it up as is. I'm pleased. It looks great on my daughter's old bed.

Beach Scenes

My local art association's new theme for its next Nouveau Art Exhibit is "Scapes" and of course, I've done beach scenes. The first is about 19 x 18" and the second is larger 34 x 26" I think. both are abstracts. The first is rough edged. The second is good old piecing which takes an exorbitant amount of time. I haven't titled them yet. I have time to compose.

I've made a personal value to not buy any more commercially printed fabrics. I have so much in my closet, in my drawers, in my bins. I prefer to dye, paint, stamp, stencil, print my own but I feel the need to use up what I have bought. I did use commercial fabric for my brayer play in a previous post and plan to paint, stencil, print, etc. other commercial cloth in the future. Time will tell....

Christmas doings

I've unearthed a couple of Christmas quilt tops that I have had around forever. I somehow got the bug to finished them up this year. I had originally planned on making this one a full sized quilt but decided to quilt it up as a lap sized one instead. It fits beautifully on the guest queen size bed. I'm working on another which I will upload an image as soon as I finish quilting.

Here's my current set up for leaf printing using a foam rubber brayer, fabric paints. I ink up both sides of the leaf, lay it on the fabric (a cotton with script), lay a book page on top and rub with my finger pads. Two prints for the price of one.And this is what I did with the fabric prints: postcards and note cards!

Brayer Play on Fabric

Played with the technique I learned at the nature printing workshop - but on fabric. I didn't like the Jacquard paints - to squishy. So I tried the block painting ink I had on hand. I liked the results better. I will be experimenting so more with different paints: liquidex acrylic ink and versatex among others.

Happy Thanksgiving

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I have much to be grateful for: my family, my home, my health, my friends, my art.... oh I am thankful that I have too many blessings to list for you. Have a wonderful day.

Back Home

Getting through the 3 weeks of mail, playing the laundress and catching up on my email are quite the chores. My trip was varied and grand. I thoroughly enjoyed my daughter, son-in-law, and grand dog, Baxter in Lexington, Kentucky. My brother-in-law and his wife visited - an extra treat. Then we traveled to Annapolis, Maryland for husband's 40th reunion from the Naval Academy. A very busy and fun time. Then onto Little Switzerland, NC. to Wildacres Retreat and the Nature Printing Society's Annual Workshop. Great people, great art, great nature, great food and accommodations. I had a ball!!!

The workshop was held over 6 days: We arrived on Monday to gather. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday were classes. Thursday was a free to explore the area day.

On Tuesday, I spend the day making paper. I've done papermaking on a small scale when I taught. There's a learning curve to making paper but I got in a lot of practice. These two are just two of many. This first one I printed the leaves on once the paper was dried.

This second paper has a leaf laminated between 2 very thin layers of pulp and dried.Wednesday was the "Wild and Free Brayer Play" with Bee Shay. And we were wild and free. My kind of play. We loaded up our brayers with ink, inked a leaf, moved the leaf over onto our paper and rolled the brayer. The brayer could also be rolled again revealing yet another leaf impression. After making over 100 pages of prints, we glued and collaged a cardboard journal.

This is the journal opened so the front, back and spine are visible.This is one of the pages. I love them all.

Friday's class was with Bee Shay again " One Day, Two Journals." Using old book covers, we collaged the fronts and backs - I collaged the inside covers as well. We spray painted the pages. Afterwards, we made the spines and sewed in the 3 signatures and added the closure. I used some of my brayer prints and some I had made at home. My last class was with Lynda Goldberg, "Nature Printing with a Press." Monotypes. I didn't quite get into the groove but this is something I will explore more. We inked up the plate, laid inked up leaves on top, laid a paper on top and ran it through the press. These 3 are passable. I've got a lot of experimenting to do. And then transfer that experience onto fabric.

I can't wait until next year. The Nature Printing Society's Workshop will be held in Charleston, Oregon. I'm hoping to teach beginning leaf printing on fabric besides taking more wonderful classes.

Happy Halloween

Happy Trick or Treating! I'll be away but wanted to send my spooky wishes to you all. This piece started as a demo of fabric collage at my local Quilt Guild - Amelia Island Quilters. I finished it up for my darling daughter, Kara, and her husband, Matt.

My husband and I are heading up to see them and to dog sit Baxter. Then we travel to Annapolis for Jim's 40th reunion, then on to NC to the Nature Printing Society's Annual Workshop. I'll be making paper, journals and monotypes. I'm thrilled.

Do have fun at Halloween. Remember those fun nights dressed up, trick or treating. I remember the infinite amount of candy......

More on Paper fabric

My favorites thus far.
Acrylic paint scraped using an old credit card.

Walnut ink sprayed. When dried stamped with white acrylic paint.
Walnut ink sprayed. When dried, green acrylic sponged.Walnut Ink. I definitely like the ink.

I'm heading up north for a couple plus weeks. Dog sitting for my darling daughter's Baxter, Lexington, KY, husband's 40th reunion at the Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD, then absolute art fun at the Nature Printing Society's workshop at New Switzerland, NC.

New Work - The Language of Leaves

My latest!!!! All have been attached to stretcher strips. I pieced the background: some of the fabrics were first stamped or leaf printed. After quilting I added elements: leaf printed book page which was adhered to cheesecloth using watered down glue, different fabric shapes, a quilted leaf print and beads.

Fun with Paper Fabric

One of my groups I belong to mmartfriends@yahoogroups.com is holding a workshop following "Stitch Alchemy" by Kelli Perkins.
http://www.amazon.com/Stitch-Alchemy-Combining-Fabric-Paper/dp/1596681136

So I've been experimenting. Here are some of my first attempts. I've used muslin as the base fabric and watered white glue (I'm using all the glue I have in my art stash - Sobo, Alene's tacky, Elmer's). I didn't take notes on which is which. Oh, well. I'll go for the most inexpensive in the future - Elmer's I believe. I added various papers - napkins, printed tissue, book pages, dress pattern tissue. Sometimes I ended with a layer of tissue. Sometime I painted a wash when the glue was still dry.

Yesterday I collaged on more papers so I can start using inks to cover them.